Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of computer processors. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for a high throughput rasterizer.
Description of the Related Art
Rasterizing is a critical task of a graphics processing unit (GPU) in which an image described in a vector graphics format is converted into a raster image (e.g., pixels) for output on a display device. Rasterization often requires determining a list of lit samples of a primitive, which is a recurrent task that must be done efficiently to consume a minimum amount of power. Graphics techniques such as multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) require a significant amount of graphics data to be processed without impacting the rendering time. Techniques have been applied to this problem but the throughout available using current solutions is insufficient to support new and future requirements.